CAT/C/34/D/221/2002
Page 15
the parties to the proceedings should submit arguments and evidence within set
deadlines, it considers that new evidence of critical importance to the Committee’s
assessment of the complaint may be submitted as soon as it is made available to either
party.
7.5
The Committee notes that this new documentation was submitted 3 months
after it was made available to the complainant. However, it finds that in the
circumstances of the present case, where the State party rejected the complainant’s
request for a medical examination, and where the medical certificates are inconclusive
on the issue of the complainant’s experience of torture, a new medical certificate must
be admitted for the evaluation of the complaint by the Commitee. The new
documentation was transmitted to the State party for comments, to ensure equality of
arms, and the State party has commented on it. The Committee therefore finds that it
should consider the new medical documentation made available to it. In the same
context, it also admits as evidence the declaration by the Vice Chairman of the Jatiyo
Party Central Committee.
7.6
The Committee accordingly declares the claim under article 3 admissible and
proceeds to its consideration on the merits.
Consideration of the merits:
8.1
The Committee must decide whether the forced return of the complainant to
Bangladesh would violate the State party's obligation, under article 3, paragraph 1 of
the Convention, not to expel or return an individual to another State where there are
substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to
torture. It follows that, in conformity with the Committee's jurisprudence, the
existence of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights
in a country does not as such constitute sufficient ground for determining whether the
particular person would be in danger of being subjected to torture upon his return to
that country; additional grounds must be adduced to show that the individual
concerned would be personally at risk. Conversely, the absence of a consistent pattern
of gross violations of human rights does not mean that a person cannot be considered
to be in danger of being subjected to torture in his or her specific circumstances.
8.2
The Committee takes note of the complainant’s information about the general
human rights situation in Bangladesh, in particular recurrent incidents of police